Then on Nov. 23, in the most serious clash in decades, North and South Korea exchanged artillery fire after an estimated 175 shells fired from the North struck a South Korean island near the countries’ disputed maritime border. Two South Korean soldiers were killed, 15 were wounded; two civilians also died. The North asserted that the South had fired first, and officials in Seoul acknowledged that the shelling had been preceded by a live-fire artillery test, but insisted that the test shelling was directed away from the North.